Stephen Chernin/EPAThere was no hiding for Vince Carter Saturday night against the Celtics after the Nets captain was benched for the entire second half.

Now they're wondering where their heads and hearts are located.

"I don't know, but wherever they are, it has to change," Nets center Josh Boone said. "Wherever they are, it's not a good place."

They're wondering whether they'll ever regain their ballast.

"We've lost three in a row, and two were really bad," Eduardo Najera said. "Everyone's trying to do the right thing. ... But it's tough when Vince (Carter) and Devin (Harris) don't play well. We need them to play at a high level again."

And with exactly one month to go before the trade deadline, they're wondering whether it's prudent to stay the course or make a move that prolongs the rebuilding phase.

"They have to like what Vince brings in terms of leadership and scoring," said one NBA general manager. "But you know, they have to think about moving him, if they can get a couple of young pieces -- or one kid with great potential like they got in the (Richard) Jefferson deal. You have to think about it, if it helps you long-term."

That's where the 19-22 Nets are at the midpoint of the 2008-09 season.

It's not the easiest place to reside.

It becomes more complicated by the fact that they were just squashed by the world champion Celtics twice in the past week -- ample proof that they aren't ready to compete with elite teams.

It becomes more complicated by the fact that they have dropped into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference, with Chicago and Charlotte breathing down their necks.

And it becomes still more complicated by the fact that they are showing small signs of fracturing. Those Boston games were among the few this season in which effort became the primary issue -- one so profound that coach Lawrence Frank benched his two best players Saturday.

"I would say, the effort definitely could have been better," Jarvis Hayes said. "The energy level could have been a little bit better. But I guess it's part of the process."

Hayes stopped himself in midsentence: "Actually, it's never part of the process," he said. "We just have to do better in that department."

One of the overlooked factors in the Nets' recent 1-4 slide is that it is concurrent with the loss of forward Yi Jianlian, who fractured his finger 10 days ago.

He had averaged 19 points and eight rebounds in his three previous games. While his presence wouldn't have guaranteed the Nets a more competitive week than the disaster they've just endured, his improvement gave them hope.

"It came at a bad time, as injuries usually do," team president Rod Thorn said. "He was playing his best ball. ... We'd have liked to see him build on that."

But does Yi's injury -- which will keep him out until late February -- influence how the Nets will handle the trade deadline? Will it make them even more determined to keep pace with their chief rivals, or put them in a holding pattern?

"It won't affect what we do, not really," Thorn said.

"You look at it as a temporary thing," GM Kiki Vandeweghe agreed. "You don't try to Band-Aid that over."

Both executives conclude, essentially, that their team is fine at the power-forward position. The small-forward spot is the weakest -- Bobby Simmons averages 7.8 points in 26 minutes, and Hayes gives the Nets 8.8 in 25 -- but Thorn doesn't analyze the individuals at that position.

"We combine it, because they split the minutes," he said. "And the nights when they get into the mid-20s, we're pretty tough to beat."

So with a four-game road trip coming up, do the Nets take extraordinary measures to extricate themselves from the ditch? The next month will tell. But more than likely, they'll allow the present group to do it themselves.

"Odds are probably against making a trade," Vandeweghe said. "You focus on getting your young players better, building their confidence and teaching them the game. If you do that and stay with it consistently, eventually I think you're rewarded."